DEEP TILLAGE. 1 1 5 



of California. Wc are aware that many look upon this yellow 

 loam as being positively noxious, which we so much delight to 

 see upon the surface, to be enriched by the rains and snows of 

 summer and winter, and pulverized by the freezing and thaw- 

 ing of spring and fall, while the roots of our trees, strawber- 

 ries, and roses arc revelling in the rich loam beneath. 



Trench Soiling. — We have presumed to coin a new term for 

 the process of deepening the soil while trenching. It might 

 more properly be called subsoiling if this were not already 

 used synonymously with subsoil ploughing. When the under 

 soil is not capable of being made productive it should be re- 

 moved, and turf, loam, muck, manure, or compost substituted. 

 We have often been surprised at the variety of subsoil in near- 

 ly the same location, not always indicated by the super-soil. 

 Gravel, stones, sand, or clay are not unfrequently a foot or less 

 below the surface. In trenching two acres we obtained an 

 abundance of the former for all our walks, and small stones to 

 drain an acre of wet land, and fdled their places with better 

 material. Portions with clay and sandy subsoil were trenched 

 both at the same time, and loads of each exchanged and mixed 

 — making some of our best land. 



This made soil is still more expensive than the merely 

 trenched ; but land that is comparatively worthless is thus 

 rendered valuable. Land on which no dependence can be 

 placed for a crop in dry or wet seasons may be made the most 

 productive, and permanent success secured. Many trees which 

 flourish through a series of ordinary years die during the first 

 severe drought, as has been the case the past season. Let, 

 then, the cultivator make his soil of uniform quality and depth, 

 and be no longer liable to vexation, or doomed to disap- 

 pointment. 



While land is being trenched or re-soiled, as above, it is a 

 convenient time to level or grade — and this has not been one 

 of the least of our objects. Any superfluous yellow loam 

 spread on grass land, or sand or gravel on clay land, will 

 well pay for the carting. The agriculturist has many opportu- 

 nities for improvement. While much of his work is laborious, 

 he is not usually as active and industrious as men engaged in 

 other business. Our early youth was spent on a farm, and wo 



